It just wasn’t LSU’s (32-22, 14-14 SEC) night on Thursday, with Zack Hess only going three innings, allowing five runs and helping Auburn (36-18, 14-14 SEC) take the first game of the series by the score of 11-4.
How It Happened
Auburn got on the board in the bottom of the first in an unconventional way with Will Holland scoring off of a wild pitch after Brendan Venter struck out swinging. Holland made it 2-0 in the second inning when he hit a two-out RBI single out to left field and that started an offensive flurry with Steven Williams hitting a two-run bomb out to right field. Venter finished things off in the second with an RBI double to make it 5-0.
Austin Bain got LSU on the board in the fifth when he hit a two-out, two-run double. However, Holland got things going once again with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. Later in the inning Brett Wright made it another crooked number inning with a two-run single out to left field, making it 8-2.
Jake Slaughter tried to get things going in the sixth with a two-run shot out to left field, but Auburn finished things off with a two-run double in the seventh by Venter and an RBI single from Jay Estes.
Hess dropped to 6-5 on the season allowing five runs off of six hits, walked three, and struck out three in three innings of work.
Big Number: 83
It was a rough night for Zack Hess to say the very least. The fact that he threw 83 pitches over the course of three innings really puts an exclamation point on things.
Player of the Game: Will Holland
Auburn’s leadoff man had a great evening, going four-of-five with two doubles and two RBIs to boot. What’s crazy is that only two other players on both teams that had a multi-hit night.
Next Up: Game Two; First Pitch at 6 p.m.
-Clint Domingue